Just because the page in front of you is blank, doesn’t mean you’re not creative. Sometimes, the best cure for the blank page is to let the creative flow where it wants. Once it flows in one direction, you will fill that blank page with creative words.
I concluded one day during a regular WIP meeting. As we gathered, I heard talk of needlework, gardening, and cooking. Everyone was creating something that had nothing to do with words. I surprised myself when I realize the many creative things I, too, do and how much these creative things help me create stories.
Perhaps my favorite non-writing creative outlet is cooking. I love to bake breads and sweets. I love to discover new recipes to cook the oven and stovetop. Grocery shopping is not something I love, but let me see a fruit or vegetable I haven’t seen before, and my mind whirls with possibilities. So, maybe I don’t mind grocery shopping all that much.
As I completed a project and prepared this week, my mind wondered across fields and flowers, chores and crafts, everything except what I should write about this week. So what did I do? I baked cookies. As soon as the mixing bowl hit the drying rack, I sat down and wrote.
As our quarantine began, I ordered a book of embroidery. It’s been years since I picked up a needle and frame to stitch ribbons into flora and fauna. My fingers are remembering how to do it. As my fingers pull and twist the needle, I find my mind weaving new stories and fixing holes in others.
Of course, there is also my yoga (which more than a few friends know I’m in love with). And yes, it is a creative outlet. The mind and body fold and stretch, allowing thoughts to calm and dreams to form.
These are crafts where I can allow my mind to wonder unfamiliar and forgotten paths. In doing so, I return to my keypad to tell more stories.
Don’t fret the unfamiliar or blank screen. Diverge your thoughts and let the creative flow through you.
I like to make granola in two batches: one keto and one regular with carbs and honey. No two are ever the same.
Before the social distancing began I had started to get back (after too many years) into visual arts. I enjoy working in watercolor, sketching, and (if I can call it a hobby) buying art supplies — as everyone on line seems to have figured out.
And then there is the ‘learn anything’ on YouTube world. The only thing I seem to do not so creative is watch TV. Yet, even in that I find myself critiquing and criticizing.
So, I agree.